Live Review: A Hitch To The Sticks - Day Three

Some of us wake up to the sound of Wayne honking the bus horn this morning and that 8.45am boarding time feels like a bit of a stretch. As stories are exchanges aboard said bus, with Dallas Frasca on the mic fishing for gory details, OG hitcher Sar informs us she reunited with her “Wang wife” last night (surely she's not referring to Grand Central Hotel's stripper pole!?). When asked how he feels about that, Sar's husband Ewan says he doesn’t mind, he’ll just have two wives - alrighty, then! The bus pulls up to Malt Shed Brewery before too long and it comes as no surprise to see #Hitch2 cast members ordering pints of beer to wash down their brekky; it would be rude not to sample the local produce, after all. 

While we stand in line to order, we're immediately in a hurry because it's straight into it this morning with The Greensmen kicking off our Rock'N'Roll Breakfast music program. And it’s unanimous: lead singer Rick Steward channels Michael Hutchence, vocally. One of The Greensmen's crankin' blues numbers features the lyrics, "I drank too much booze,” which could very much become A Hitch to The Sticks' theme song. Steward shreds, delivering fuzzy riffs and exuding an energy that reflects his humble nature - this dude radiates and we all wish he was our buddy. Steward is ably supported by a beast of a drummer, Rhys Duursma (who Steward tells us stepped in at the last minute to play his first gig with The Greensmen this morning - WHAT!?) and the bass demon is also DROID's guitarist.

DROID blasted our hangovers away at the inaugural A Hitch To The Sticks Rock'N'Roll Breakfast and their perfectly controlled, head-banging pace continues to impress. Drummer Jeremy Kaye Simmons mixes his patterns up constantly and we can’t help but wonder how many bongs may have been pulled during the creation of these songs. What DROID deliver is sludgy, brutal and Black Sabbath-esque - we’re all for it. (Special props to the DROID band member who had to return to Melbourne last night for his girlfriend's 21st birthday party, but then left at 6am to return to Wang for our listening pleasure - that's commitment right there!)


Gaining top billing at this venue is former Rambunctious frontman Lee Rosser, accompanied by drummer Tim O'Connor (who delivers a drum solo at the tail end of their set that calls to mind Animal from The Muppets). This impressive duo deal "Wangaratta Delta blues", which translates into an irresistibly funky groove that coaxes punters to nod along and supply a bit of leg percussion. According to Rosser's Facebook page, Tim Rogers once exclaimed, "I can't believe I have to go on after this cunt - what a voice!" And Rosser sure does have a ripping set of pipes! Referring to this gig's early-morning start time, Rosser chuckles, "I nearly had to get Timmy up a night early just to make sure he got here!”

Oops, hitcher Spooky has a spew at Malt Shed Brewery and will need to be monitored for the rest of the afternoon, catching a ride to our next destination with his cousin Jeff Curran who doesn't exactly looked thrilled by the prospect of being handballed baby(cousin)sitting duty. It's just a 20-minute hoon down Wangaratta-Whitefield Road to Moyhu, but we don't wanna piss off Wayne so no one's taking any chances. 

As soon as we wander down beside Moyhu Hotel towards the purpose-built stage in the beautiful beer garden, memories flood back into the brainboxes of OG hitchers as we clap eyes on the idyllic setting featuring hay bales, scattered tables and chairs and giant woven wicker baubles. Aha! So it turns out Duursma, the drummer who became an honorary Greensman this morning, is The Quick & The Dead's drummer/singer and this Glenrowan trio are the first cab off the rank for our second Sunday event. This band comprises three brothers (two actual and one spiritual) and is rounded out by Kai Duursma (guitar/vocals) and Isaac Goeby (bass/vocals). They're a tight unit and drummer/singers are always a treat to watch - we decide Rhys must have abs of steel. 

We're delighted to see Frasca's mum and dad, Moggie and Pete, in Moyhu and reckon the whole nation would tune it if Gogglebox set up in their lounge room (especially after Moggie wanders past en route to the ladies toilet and announces there's something wrong with her clacker today). Frasca's 84-year-old grandma is also in attendance as part of a travelling caravan adventure visiting music festivals across the country. 

The secret's out: OG hitcher Roneth fancies fellow OG hitcher Stacey, which becomes increasingly obvious each time he asks her to accompany him to the bar. 

We pull up a pew for the incomparable JoJo Smith, who we were blown away by for the first time during our first stop in Violet Town on #Hitch1. It’s Smith's phrasing and delivery, honed through years of performance experience, that reels us in. She quickly labels us, "A bunch of ragers," cheekily adding, "I can already tell." Smith wows us, sharing her thoughts on love during one number: "It is a must/It is a pure necessity” - it's spine-tingling stuff. We're told Smith's guitar, which she scolds for "playing up", is called Rose. These lyrics take on extra resonance in this setting and after the weekend we’ve had (and are still having). This Way North drummer Cat Leahy joins Smith on stage for some extra accompaniment on a couple of songs, including a stirring rendition of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, during which we need no encouragement to supply BVs and then get a thrill when Smith request a big round of applause for her "darling backing vocals" - life made. 


This Way North follow and this pair sure are gig-fit - are they ever not on tour? Leahy boasts perfect posture and we suspect she's actually an octopus with six invisible arms given the intricacy of those beats. "I tell you the worst part about being in 'the Sticks' is breaking your sticks," she jests after one of her drumsticks breaks. Leahy harmonises with guitarist/vocalist Leisha Jungalwalla and the duo play as if they share a brain. This Way North get us up and dancing before expressing their gratitude towards legends of the community such as Frasca and Renee Delahunty for bringing the performance opportunities out this way. By set's close, we're left wondering which way's north, delirious from all the dancing. This duo are relentless shifters of the groove. 

It's up to Kate Ceberano to supply the final set of A Hitch To The Sticks (the sequel) and she performs a mix of her own songs and classic covers accompanied by guitarist/backing vocalist Rodrigo Bustos. After experiencing Ceberano's keynote speech at the inaugural Australian Women In Music Awards, held in Brisbane earlier this year, we sure hope I'm Talking, My Life in Music - during which Ceberano shared personal experiences between performances from her back catalogue - turns into a show. In Moyhu, Ceberano belts out Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by The Police, her very own Pash and then Ceberano dedicates The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face to Frasca's grandma - what a moment! We also hear reflections from Ceberano's life and she discusses the long process of ordering imports and sheet music from Brash's in Doncaster. "I had my first pash at Westfield Shopping Centre," she enlightens. Then Frasca is welcomed to the stage to help Ceberano out on a Divinyls medley, which includes I Touch Myself and Boys In Town, in honour of the late, great legend Chrissy Amphlett. Ceberano informs us Bustos is working it out as he goes along because this is spontaneous, but such is his talent that we certainly wouldn't have picked it. As we sing along with the Boys In Town outro, "Get/Me out of/Heeeeeere," we most certainly don't mean it, but alas! Wayne needs to get his bus back to the depot (where the interior will undoubtedly need to be doused in bleach) so we're all shepherded aboard. 


The home stretch is always a bit wild and woolly with many singalongs (Moyhu Hotel ran outta Jager, just sayin'), but this time - after multiple Tiny Dancer singalong attempts across the weekend prove that many in attendance are unfamiliar with this iconic song's lyrics - some absolute genius organises for lyric sheets to be printed out and distributed so that the #Hitch2 cast can give it a red-hot go. (During said singalong this scribe unknowingly waves her stubby in the air during the chorus, "HOLD me CLOSER..." [greaser from Wayne in the rear view mirror] - d'oh! Busted bad.)

As the bus delivers us safely back to the Russell Street Extension, OG hitchers harbouring reservations that a repeat dose of A Hitch To The Sticks couldn't possibly match the hilarity and memories gathered from the inaugural experience are now forced to eat their words. Each new cast member brings something different, much like the characters on the Almost Famous tour bus, and we're easy to sign up for #Hitch3.